Becoming American
This week, I became an American citizen.
It’s not something I ever thought about, nor something I ever planned for. But as I stood with my right hand raised, pledging allegiance to the United States, I felt a surge of pride, humility, and gratitude.
I was born and raised in Israel — a small country with a big story. My childhood was shaped by a nation forged in resilience and defined by its contradictions: ancient and modern, fragile and bold. From my years growing up in the North of Israel, serving in the IDF, and my time at the Zell Entrepreneurship Program, I absorbed lessons about grit, responsibility, and daring to build. Those are the roots that anchor me.
But my story is also an immigrant story. I am the first generation in Israel to parents who came as Russian immigrants. Their journey — leaving behind one world to build a life in another — taught me to respect the courage, sacrifice, and hope it takes to start over. That story of uprooting and rebuilding has always been part of my identity. And in many ways, it’s what makes me connect so profoundly with the American story — because at its core, America is a nation of immigrants.
And yet, my journey did not move in a straight line from Israel to America. London was the bridge. It’s where I became a global citizen. It was where I built Kano Computing, my first startup, where I discovered what it meant to assemble teams, raise capital, and inspire children everywhere to create with technology. London gave me perspective — a vantage point from which I could see Israel in the context of the wider world, and the world through the lens of culture, technology, and possibility.
It was also during my time in London that I met the person who changed my life.
I came to America because of my wife, Keri, not for a business opportunity, but for love and a life partnership. It was a life choice. Business came after, and that distinction matters. Because when you choose a place out of love, you commit to it with your whole self.
America became not just the place where I’m building companies, but also, and much more importantly, the place where I’m building a family and a life. America became my home, and becoming a citizen is a commitment to the country, the community, and to its future.
And Ohio, the Midwest, is where our home is and where we’re building a life. A region so often overlooked, but in my eyes, overflowing with possibility. In Ohio, I see grit in founders, resilience in communities, and hunger for opportunity. I believe this is one of the destinations where the next great wave of American innovation will emerge — and I’m excited to be part of building it.
I am proud to become an American because this country, for all its imperfections, remains humanity’s boldest experiment: can a nation of immigrants, ideas, and contradictions lead, not simply endure? The future in America always feels unfinished, always up for grabs, always open to builders willing to take responsibility.
Together with Keri, we believe that we can raise our family in a place that honors my past while giving us the horizon of a future we can help shape. And this week, as I became an American, I take on this responsibility.
I can proudly say that I’m the son of immigrants who came to Israel to start anew, shaped by Israel’s resilience and inspired by London’s global perspective, and now, a proud American, building a future in Ohio.
With belief,
Yon
“America is too great for small dreams.” — Ronald Reagan
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